TWILIGHTESQUE 2
by Grace Watson
Summary: A spin-off of Twilight. Similar plot, slightly more realistic. Just over-all familarity. Not a continuation or re-write, just similar.
1. The Awkward Meeting

"Hello and welcome back to school broncos! And if you're a freshman, then we welcome you, class of 2011! Let's make this another great school year. Let's try and keep all of our football stars alive, all our druggies in hiding and out of jail, and all of our horny bastards under control (we don't want mommies running through these halls!)" were the words of my utterly astonishing principal, Mr. Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs was most definitely unique; he had a way with us, the students. He always managed to turn horrible crises into comical jokes.

"Is it just me, or do the announcements get longer each year?" I said to the guy next to me. He turned, giving me a cold stare, but said nothing. "So have you heard anything about this class? I hear it's supposed to be easy." He managed to shrug his shoulders. In astonishment at his cold disposition, I turned back to face my computer.

After sitting through an utterly silent room for an hour, I rushed out and turned around the corner as soon as the bell had rung. That class had to be the most life-sucking class I'd ever been in. The most expression I got out of anyone was a shrug of the shoulders. The loudest sound was the hitting of fingers to the keys on the keyboards. Oh what a dull first period that will be, I thought.

I sighed and brushed my hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear. I tried to muddle through the overly crowded halls, being pushed back and forth between the incredibly tall football players towering over me. It's like I was a ball being passed back and forth, except that no one noticed. Suddenly, I looked ahead and saw a break in the crowd, I quickly shuffled between two gossiping girls, who glared at my "rudeness," and then realized that I was not the only one who noticed this advantageous situation. A tall, boy, about 6'2" or 6'3" with dark brown hair, turned his remarkably pale face to stare at me with brilliant blue eyes. Looking at him head-on, I noticed his flawless bone structure and prominently set chin, both of which seemed incredulously insignificant when I made my way up to his eyes. Beautiful, they were, but they were filled with shock and confusion. Taken aback, sure there must be some misunderstanding, I shot a quick, sheepish smile in his direction and turned to stare at the back of the head in front of me.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally made my way to E-hall and sat myself into the first empty seat I found in the room. I started to pull my notebook out of my book-bag, when a clearing of a throat diverted my attention to the seat behind me. I looked up, only to see those brilliant blue eyes fixated on the blank board. My face turned red as I turned back to my desk, completely embarrassed and unsure as to how I should react, but I was most definitely sure that Emily Post didn't cover awkwardness-101…or did she? My thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice, "Lauren? I don't believe it, of course you had to be in my _math_ class; not my history class," he said with a hint of disappointment.

I let out a sigh with my returning smile, "Lawrence," I said with an affirmative nod. Before our calm casualties could continue, a shrieking girl with curly black hair pinned up into a ponytail and sealed with a red ribbon repeated my action, but with extreme enthusiasm and wide, flailing arms flying in his direction. I let out a laugh, "Good luck," I wished him. He peeled his eyes from the girl, just feet away, and gave me an appreciative expression before opening his arms and embracing the bouncy girl.

Inside, I let out a little chuckle of amusement and approval; with this "Alex"—the shrieking girl—occupying Lawrence's attention and being an utter nuisance, I would be able to focus on the 

mathematics, knowing that Lawrence's daily annoyance quota was fulfilled. Seeing my reaction and deciding to act on it, Mr. Brilliant Blue Eyes commented, "Friend of yours?" with a half-smile.

I turned my head, shocked we were speaking. "You could say that, I suppose." He raised an eyebrow at my vague reply, "We're friends, but not in the traditional sense of the world." He now raised the other eyebrow to be a full-out confused, but interested, face. I sighed, "We _do_ care about each other, but we love to annoy one another; we act more like siblings than friends."

"Ah…siblings? No more? I suspected a little…repression…or tension….in the air…has it always been this way, or is this a new thing?"

My eyes must have bugged at his bluntness. "Yes it has _always_ been this way, except that we have become somewhat closer and more caring—well under it all—but no it has never—and will never—be like _that_." The confusion left his face and was now replaced by remorse for ever asking. I did a double-back, shocked at my own harshness. "Oh, sorry, it's not you or the question that really bother me…it's just the frequency of the question…but still, I shouldn't have reacted like that, I'm sorry."

"It's fine; we all have our touchy subjects."

"And what are _your_ touchy subjects, now that you know mine?"

He let out a chuckle, "Wow, we sure are getting down to the root of things, aren't we? Wouldn't you rather start with the basics, like my _name_, for example?"

I could feel the blood rush to my face in humiliation at my own social awkwardness and stupidity. I wiped it from my face after a moment or two, and replaced it with a grin as I stuck out my hand, "Lauren…Masen, you?"

He chuckled, but accepted my hand and firmly shook it, "Ben," he paused twice as long as I had, "…Saxton, and it's a pleasure to finally be introduced."

Before _our_ casualties could prevail, the teacher interrupted us with an explanation about the class, what was to be expected, and what materials we would need. After what seemed like hours, the bell rang and I stood up, Ben rose shortly after, with a sigh. I turned to see if it was because of impatience, but it was more relief, completed with that same slight smile. "First days, huh?"

I allowed the annoyance to shine in my voice, though my eyes were humorous, "Yeah, always the same dull introduction, even for math—a class where no words are really necessary—well, except for final papers…"

"Those are the worst," he agreed, "not that I mind writing and literature, but I find it inappropriate in a mathematics class." I simply nodded my head, totally in agreement. "And there are all of those first impressions, as well," he said, waiting for my response.

"Oh yes, those," I said with a wrinkle of my nose.

"You don't like them?"

"Depends," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"On?"

"Who it is you're meeting and whether that first impression is good or bad."

"And what is your first impression of _me_?" He said, and I could hear the suppression of a smile in his voice.

I turned my face up to meet his smoldering eyes, sparkling with amusement. "Well, that's a hard one…I haven't really had time to process it," despite my silence, he seemed eager enough to wait for the answer, "But, so far, you seem like an…interesting person."

"Interesting," he seemed to mulling the word over in his head, "I'll take it," he said with an approving smile at my assessment. After a few more moments of standing there, staring into his sparkling eyes, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the classroom was starting to empty, he seemed to notice my wandering eyes, and spoke my exact thoughts, "I think we'd better get to class, we don't want to give our teachers a bad first impression of us." Although I knew that I probably shouldn't notice or care, I couldn't help but smile at his grouping. He turned to walk, but after a few steps he turned towards me, "Aren't you coming? Where's your next class?"

"A-hall, I have Spanish," I said, still unmoving.

"Same here," and with a simple gesture of his hand, I was moving towards him and then with him, and we seemed to be gliding, but at a slow pace, towards the other end of the school. "So what level are you; two or three?"

"Four actually," and I could see him raise an eyebrow, "I took one in middle school, and I could have taken AP this year, but I opted not to," and at that he raised the other eyebrow, forming an all-out curious expression.

"Perhaps another time," he spoke with closure, and I noticed that I was standing outside of my classroom.

"Sure," I said with a quick smile, and although it seemed awkward, I couldn't help but add, "Thanks," and a grateful smile afterwards.

"For?" he said, completely oblivious.

"Walking me to class."

"Lauren," and at that my heart sputtered; the way he pronounced it was so…so, indescribable, "I was going this way anyways, you know? And a 'thanks' really isn't necessary, hardly appropriate." At that I was speechless, I gave a quick, sheepish smile, and turned my back towards him, walking into the classroom, just as I felt the blood rush to my face. "Oh, I didn't mean—" but he was cut-off by the Spanish teacher's furious gaze. Even though the bell had yet to ring, everyone was already seated in their seats, full attention towards the board, copying down the immaculate number of phrases, ready to be translated. I quickly slid into the last available seat, giving no notice to the teacher's glare at me, or the swishing of her dress as she flew to the door, closing it. I quickly absorbed myself into the translations.


	2. Sweet Explainations Are for Later

Some good that did me--how could I forget that Spanish was impossibly easy? I finished all of the assignments early and had the last twenty minutes to myself, and of course, with it being the first day, I had no other work to do, nothing to occupy my mind as the teacher began to give her firm, no-nonsense lecture, in Spanish, of course. As soon as she had issued a "Hola," my mind was already adrift, thinking of him. What a bizarre boy he was. Why would someone act that way after a first introduction? It was like he'd been sitting next to me for weeks and had finally gone stir-crazy at the silence, except that it hadn't been weeks, it had merely been moments. He baffled me to the most extreme, why would he walk with me; I was embarrassingly dull compared to his beauty. Yet, somehow, I was at ease around him, able to pour out all of my thoughts, not realizing it until after the words had left my lips. And what was all that nonsense about finally being introduced? Was he referring to the hallway this morning? But my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the bell, and I when I rose from my seat, I was in a rushed daze, moving quickly but noticing nothing. This trance was interrupted by a hard thud and the dropping of my books. I didn't even bother to look up and see what it was I had collided with as I bent to pick up my dropped books. But as my hand reached for the physics book, I noticed another set of pale white fingers clutching the binding of my book. I looked up, and immediately regretted it, because when my eyes met the deep sea of blue, I lost any thought I had had in my head. But he seemed to have a different reaction, he was smiling intently back at me. Without saying a word—for my mind was too busy trying to remember how to breath—I rose and held out my hand for my book, but he ignored it and started walking. I sighed and started after him, but his pace was unusually slow, waiting for me to keep up. After we had walked almost the entire way to the new Science building, I could no longer stand the awkwardness, "Aren't you going to give me my book back?"

"Only when you're at your next class, where is that, by the way?"

"G 105, I have Physics with Macklin, why are you taking my book there, anyways?"

"I'm walking you to class, silly," he said, as if the answer should be obvious.

"Are you sure your class isn't just there and you're just keeping me company?"

"And if I were, would it be so wrong that I wanted your company?"

I paused, most people did not want my company, I was a nerd, and it was not socially accepted to be seen with me, more often than not.

"Besides, I _want_ to walk with you to your class—where ever that may be, though it does seem that we have the same next period." He stopped, waiting for some reaction out of my now frozen face.

"Oh, well er, thanks, for both," I said, nervously.

He chuckled, "No thanks needed, it really is my pleasure. Besides, I wanted to clear up that pre-Spanish incident."

"What about it? You were walking to the same hall as I and you merely spoke to me, being polite, and I took it as something else, you simply cleared that up--it really was my fault--and I'm sure it won't happen again."

"Because of better clarity?" he said, now he seemed to be the nervous one.

"Because it won't happen again. Look, let's just leave this be, alright?"

"I don't understand," he said innocently.

I sighed in frustration and stopped walking, "Hasn't this already been awkward enough for you? Why would you want to go through this again?"

"My life is always full of uncomfortable situations, and it will be, even without your presence. And yes, I would like to go through this again, with _you_." I was sure my mouth dropped because I heard him chuckle, "Now, let's you and I get to class, first impressions, you know?"

I smiled and as we reached the class, he opened the door and held it for me, "Nice," I approved as he handed me my book as I passed by him and his chivalrous act.

But once I stepped inside, my smile quickly dissolved as I saw a familiar face. "Lauren?" I heard Ben calling my name, as he gestured towards two seats in the back that he was standing next to, and I noticed that I must have stopped walking. I quickly snapped out of it—whatever, or where ever "it" was—and walked towards him. After I slid into my seat, Ben leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Everything all right?" in a concerned voice.

I could see that the teacher was scooting away from his desk and preparing to stand up to give us the same boring speech, so I leaned over and said, "Yeah, I'll explain later."

He nodded, but the concern never left his eyes. I was extremely thankful that the seats he'd chosen were located in the back of the room because I never had to face the familiar face of which I was so dreading. After what seemed like far too long, the bell sounded and Ben was standing beside my desk with an agitated look on his face, and I suddenly realized that I hadn't thought of an explanation for my odd behavior. "Lunch next?" he asked.

"Yep," I said blankly.

"Excellent," he said with a wide grin. His exuberant smile was extremely contagious, and once exposed to it, I couldn't help but mirror the look.

When we'd arrived at the cafeteria he stopped walking, "Do you buy or brown bag?"

I smiled at his terminology, "Brown bag."

"Me, too. Well that is great, it gives us more time—"

And I felt awful for having to cut him off, but I knew where he was taking the conversation, "Oh, I'm so sorry, but I just remembered that I promised some friends that I'd eat lunch with them," I said apologetically. Though it was true, I knew my friends wouldn't mind a last minute cancellation, especially when they found out that Ben was the reason. His face dropped immediately, catching the hidden implications, and the expression was heart-breaking, so I couldn't help but add, "But I'm sure they'll understand if I can't join them today, I just need to find them to cancel." His face lit up like the Rockefeller Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.

"Lauren?" I heard the familiar voice of one of my friends and turned my head to see her and everyone else behind her, standing there with baffled expressions on their faces.

"Oh hey guys, I was just looking for you," and though I couldn't quite decipher for sure, I thought I'd heard one of them mutter "I'll bet," but I ignored it and proceeded, "Uh guys, I was wondering if you guys would mind too terribly much if I wasn't able to sit with you today?"

It was Vanessa, the shortest, with long, black hair, and the only one with a relatively calm face, who answered, "Sure babe, I guess we'll catch ya later today, c'mon guys," as she and the rest—all five of them—began to walk towards the food line.

I turned back to Ben with a relieved expression on my face, but he merely looked amused. "I'll explain later," I answered his silent curiosity.


	3. Lunch

"Sure, sure, but now you get to meet _my_ friends, if that's alright with you?" he asked with a teasing smile. I returned a smile and simply nodded—more in confusion than agreement. As we walked over to the table farthest the food line, I could see a deserted table, with only four occupants; two boys and two girls. I hesitated, but Ben motioned for me to sit in the seat beside him, and I could not refuse his pleading expression. Once seated, I noticed all four pairs of eyes, intently inspecting me. "Lauren," he calmly said, informing everyone. Then he gestured towards the humongous, grizzly-looking, muscle-bulging mass opposite me, "Charles, my older brother," I smiled and Charles grinned hugely back at me. Next to Charles was one of the most beautiful girls I'd ever met, Ben introduced her as Melissa, Charles' girlfriend. She had straight, naturally blond hair that was swept up into a ballerina's bun, and tied with a deep blue ribbon, that matched her eyes and contrasted beautifully with her tan skin, with features so, so, unmatchable, she _must_ be a cheerleader, or a dancer. When Ben said her name, she gave me a hesitant smile, one full of politeness, but not really genuine. Ben hardly seemed to notice as he moved on to the other boy, who sat on Charles' right, "Jasper, my best friend." Terms like "best friend" weren't really used by most guys, but then again, Ben didn't seem ordinary. Jasper gave me the same huge grin as Charles, and seemed to approve of me. Ben moved on to the girl on my left, "Catherine, my sister, and…" he hesitated, "…Jasper's girlfriend." My eyebrows raised a little, but Catherine hardly seemed to notice as she flashed a grin even huger than Charles' and Jasper's, and threw her arms around my neck.

"Oh," was all I could say in shock.

Ben gave Catherine a warning glance, and she muttered, "Sorry, I'm just _so_ happy to meet you! You don't know how long I've waited for this!"

At this I was sure confusion swept my face, and Lawrence spoke before I could part my lips to speak, "She just means that she's happy to see that Ben has met someone, it's been so long with him being surrounded only by us and now that he's found you—"

Ben intercepted, "Yes, now that I've found another addition to our 'clique,' which reminds me, your friends, they seem to be very interested in us."

"Huh?" I had totally forgotten all about them, being so absorbed into Ben's "clique." His eyes flickered across the cafeteria towards my would-be table. All five pairs of eyes seemed to be _too _interested at various random objects—tables, food, spots on the floor, etc.—and all faces seemed too blank, rather than absorbed into their usual lunch chatter. "Oh, them," and I realized that five new pairs of eyes were on me, "They're just…surprised that I'm sitting here, probably. I usually don't do these types of things."

Jasper chuckled, "As I said, Ben doesn't usually invite people to lunch with us." But that was the last thing I really remembered. The rest of their conversation was tuned out, I was much too preoccupied with Ben's intent eyes on me as I ate, seeming ready to gauge my reaction at any point, but he found nothing—other than nervousness and anxiousness.

After lunch, Ben walked by my side without a word, not even asking what class we were walking to. When we arrived at my class, I was surprised that he didn't stop outside the door, but proceeded forward. "_This_ is your class?"

He smiled, "Yes, and I assume it is yours as well, unless you're just walking me to class?"

"Nope, it's mine," I said with a smile and slid into the seat adjacent to his. "What class is your next one? I'm beginning to think something funny is going on in the scheduling office."

"AP Literature, you?"

"Honors Lit., wow, I guess you _do_ like writing."

He chuckled, but then his eyes grew a bit tight, "How was lunch?"

"You were there."

"Yes, but how was lunch for _you_?" he said, correcting his previous question.

"Oh, um…different, but good different."

He sighed in relief, and that I had no idea how to respond to, and luckily, I didn't have to because that's when Lawrence, Vanessa, and Charisa entered the room. "Guys? No way! I didn't know all of you had this class!"

"You missed lunch," Charisa suspiciously hinted.

"Sorry about that, but isn't it awesome that we're all going to have this class together, just like last year?"

"Yeah, yeah," they said in union.

"Oh, by the way, this is Ben." They all looked up, alert and curious, "Lawrence, Vanessa, Charisa," I said pointing each one out to Ben.

"It's splendid meeting you, and sorry I stole Lauren away from you at lunch. Perhaps you'll join us tomorrow?"

I raised my eyebrows, I didn't know he planned to invite me to lunch the next day, and he realized that he hadn't asked yet, so I quickly answered, "Or maybe Ben could join us?"

All of their eyes lit up, and Ben accepted, "I'd love to join you."

Just then, the teacher, Mrs. Bartlett, interrupted our conversation by clearing her throat and bumbling towards the front of the room. Quickly, all three settled into seats, preparing themselves for yet another monotonous lecture. After class, Ben walked me to the door where I found Lawrence waiting for me. "See ya later," I said to Ben, turning my attention towards Lawrence's curious face.

"After seventh, in the commons?"

"Sure, sure," and just before I turned again, I could have swore I saw a smile spread across his face just as he turned in the other direction, striding to catch up to Vanessa and Charisa, who were both headed towards Latin.

I turned back to Lawrence, "So??" his face was full of curiosity—and impatience.

"Hmm?" I responded, still dazed.

"Oh don't play dumb, you know what I mean, it was all we could talk about during lunch, and we all have our own little theories, but what I'm more interested in is the truth. Do you plan on sharing?"

"There's really nothing to tell," I said all too innocently.

Lawrence rolled his eyes, "Sure, because you always bail on us to go eat lunch with those insanely gorgeous new kids. Spill."

I knew this look, and I knew that I'd eventually tell him everything, so I opened my mouth and began to gush the story. "Okay, okay, but really, you know about as much as I do. I met Ben in math, well sort of before," and I could see Lawrence's eyes widen with curiosity. "Well I sort of bumped into him in the hallway after first period, and it was one of those embarrassing, hope-I-never-see-them-again, type of thing, and then I didn't realize that I'd sat myself in front of Ben in math, and when I did, that was just before you came in. And we didn't talk _much_," Lawrence noticed the accidental emphasis and his eyes widen even further, "well, just a little, you know, the polite stuff, anyways, since we both had third in A-hall, we walked there together, and then had another awkward moment, he was just being polite and I'd misunderstood, and you know me. But after third—I guess he felt bad about the earlier misunderstanding—he was waiting for me and I didn't notice and walked straight into him, spilling my books all over the floor, and he helped me pick them up, only he wouldn't give them back to me and insisted on walking me to class, not just walking with me because we were both headed in the same direction, but purposely walking me there. Anyways, when we got there I saw Bradford," at this, Lawrence's mouth dropped, for he knew the history between me and the "familiar face." "Yeah, and Ben noticed that, too, only he'd already saved me a seat, thankfully, or else I'd have had to sit next to Bradford. After fourth, since we both had lunch, we just decided to eat together—well it wasn't really decided, it just sort of happened—and then we just walked here, and so that's it."

I gasped, relieved to have finished, and needing to supply more oxygen to my brain. Lawrence was silent beside me and when I turned to see his expression, it was a mixture, but after a few moments, he finally settled on amused and he let his infamous smirk shine through. "This is going to be interesting," and I grimaced as he used the same word I'd previously told Ben. Lawrence, being as observant as always, noticed, "What?"

"Nothing," and he gave me his doubtful look, the one he always used when he was looking through my lies and seeing the truth, "No really, it's nothing, just remembered something, but it's really not important." Lawrence sighed but didn't press the matter further; he already had enough information to entertain his brain for the entire next class period.


	4. After School

Language Arts breezed by quickly and Lawrence was relatively silent, mulling over my recent news, most likely. At the sound of the final bell, I sprang from my seat. Lawrence caught my eye and smirked, knowing _exactly_ where I was heading. I smiled to myself as well, I was excited, though I wasn't quite sure why. I'd just met this guy today; I had no idea who he was or what he was really like—so many questions I had for him…and I hoped that it wouldn't be too creepy if I started firing them at him the moment he was in sight. I turned the corner, headed for the commons, and there he was, leaning against a brick pillar. Once he saw me, a slight, crooked smile appeared on his face. I must have looked over-excited because he chuckled to himself. "You came," he said, stepping away from the wall and towards me.

"Did you ever think I wouldn't? I mean there is so much to say, and like I'm going to miss an opportunity to interrogate!" I said, relieved that I was comfortable enough around him to be myself—whatever that was!

He chuckled again, "Yes, indeed, but I was hoping I could go first?" I shrugged my shoulders—though I had some inquiries of my own shouting to be answered inside my head—but my turn would come soon enough—there really wasn't much to know about me. "Is now a good time?"

"Oh, um, well I actually have an FEA meeting…and my mom usually picks me up afterwards…of course, not until after I call her…and they usually give us all the important information at the beginning…" I trailed off, shocked that the words were coming out of _my_ mouth.

"I don't want you to miss your meeting."

"I usually only go to the beginning…I don't really like the ends, anyways." He gave me a disbelieving look, and I shot back a calm, reassuring one, which seemed to win him over.

He sighed in defeat, "Since you're going to skip the end to spend time with me, can I at least come for the first half with you?"

I nodded my head enthusiastically and we began to walk towards the meeting. The meeting was relatively short, they mostly just handed out sign-up forms, which Ben gladly accepted and filled out, and held elections for officers. Ben tried to convince me to run for a position, but I assured him that _that_ was for next year, all part of my extra-curricular activities plan—at that, he merely smiled, not the horrified, she really is a nerd, reaction that I was expecting.

After we voted, the teacher sponsors began to coordinate an activity, but Ben and I managed to duck out, using a physics project as an excuse—we were partners, of course. Once outside the room, I sighed in relief at not getting caught. "So, let's get through these questions," I said, turning towards him.

"You sound like you already can't wait for them to be over with? Do you not want to do this? We don't have to, I just thought—"

"No, no, it's just that I want to ask you _my_ questions…I'm relatively boring, so I'm not really looking forward to having to answer all yours and see the disappointment and boredom."

He chuckled, "You can't be _that _dull, and even if you are, I think I'd still talk to you."

Now it was my turn to laugh, "Alright, alright; let's do this."

We continued to walk down the hall and outside towards the big oak in front of the school. Once under the oak, we plopped ourselves down on the grass and he began, "That's the spirit! Okay, well, I know your first name, but a little more wouldn't hurt."

"Lauren Grace Masen." He raised an eyebrow, urging me to go on, "'Lauren' and 'Grace' are the middle names of both of my grandmothers, they're put together to symbolize the joining of two families …and 'Masen' is Norwegian, and that's my name…not so creative."

He nodded his head, trying to absorb it all. After a moment or two, he spoke, "Would it be too weird if I called you 'Maze', you know, short for 'Masen'? Or do you prefer Lauren? It's just that 'Maze' is something that most people don't seem to call you and is it alright that I want my own nickname for you?"

I was taken aback, no one had ever said this to me before, or ever tried to give me a nickname, most of my nicknames just sprung from all of the embarrassing stuff I'd done. "Um sure; 'Maze,' 'Lauren,' whatever really."

He nodded, "Tell me about your family."

I paused, "You might not want to ask that question, it's a long, complicated, messy answer."

"I'd still like to know, it is a part of you, and I want to know all of you, not just the pretty, glossed-over parts, but the real ones."

"Okay," I started off dubiously, "My dad is a retired fireman and my mom is a retired CEO from some company that I don't ever remember the name of. My mom is technically my stepmom, but my real mother divorced my dad when I was about two, and I haven't seen her since I was about nine? Anyways, I'm not really interested in seeing her either, because well, she just wasn't the best person, and I don't ever really talk about her, not just because I don't like to, but my mom's a bit sensitive to that subject. Anyways, I wouldn't even bother mentioning the whole stepmom thing, except that I have step-brothers. Two actually, the older one is Eric and he's married to Audra; the younger one is Chris and he's married to Jamie and they have three kids: Katie, Kody, and Kinsley, but only Kinsley is his actual child, Katie and Kody are his step kids, though you'd never know it. And then there are my siblings: James, Hope, and Nissa. I haven't seen James in years, he doesn't really come around the family much; Hope I see some, she is married to Mac and has three kids: Jason, Karina, and Lucas; and I see Nissa even less than Hope. Yeah, I guess you can tell that they're all older than me—all in their late twenties, and Chuck and Chris are even in their early thirties. And that's basically my family."

I took a moment to catch my breath. "Wow that is a large family, but I take their age that none of them live with you?"

"You're correct; I'm basically an only-child."

He smiled and nodded, and proceeded, "Tell me some of your favorites, like books, movies, actors, colors, colleges…" he trailed off.

"Hmm…well, my favorite book would have to be a tie between _Pride and Prejudice_ and the _Twilight_ series. My favorite movie, that's a tough one, I'm pretty much a movie-aholic and love so many movies. My favorite color varies, though it's usually pink, turquoise, or pastel green. And college, gee I wish I knew. I'm thinking of applying to UGA, GA Tech, Emory, Mercer, Brenau, Berry, UND, and probably some others."

He nodded, "UND? That's kind of far away, and in North Dakota, sort of the middle of nowhere, so very different from here, may I ask why there?"

"Both of my grandparents are, well I guess my grandpa _was_, but my grandma still is, alumni and that'll help my chances of getting in, it's kind of like a back-up-school, so I'll probably never go there, but the chances are higher than like Brenau," I made a face, and he noticed. "Not that Brenau is a bad school, it's good, they just don't offer majors I'm interested in--I'm only applying because my dad went there."

"And you'll go where your parents want?"

"It's not like they're making me go there, I can go where I want, but I'll apply because it'll make him happy, though he knows that I won't go there."

He once again nodded, "And what majors are you interested in?"

"That's a toughie—I'm not really sure, I can't decide what I want to do, and it's always changing and is so wide-ranging. Right now it's between an accountant, lawyer, psychiatrist, or some type of engineer."

He nodded and continued to proceed with the rapid questions, more about my friends, my childhood, and various other topics. After an hour had passed, I stopped him in the middle of asking me my preference on sports, "Sorry, but I really do have to go now, my mom will kill me if I'm late."

He seemed as disappointed by this as I was. "Could I walk you home?"

I paused, my mom didn't like me walking home by myself too often, just her over-protective self, but usually if I was with someone, like Charisa, she was fine with it…and I would be with someone…"I'll call, can you hold on?"

"Certainly," and he motioned with his hand that I should proceed.

I whipped out my cell and dialed home. "Lauren? It's late; I was beginning to wonder what happened to you."

"Sorry, I had an FEA meeting…and things ran a bit late. Um I was wondering if I could walk home today."

"Well you know how I feel about that…"

"I know, but I have a friend and he offered to walk me home, is that alright?"

"He?" Darn, she had picked up on that. "Do I know him, is it Lawrence?"

"No, it's not Lawrence, and I'm pretty sure you don't know him, can I?"

"Only if I can meet him." I paused, I turned towards Ben, but he motioned for the phone. I, dumbfounded, handed it to him.

"Mrs. Masen? Hello, yes, this is Ben Saxton. Yes, I stayed after for the FEA meeting as well, yes, first day stuff and all, and elections--all the good stuff. Yes, well you see I was just thinking that since I'm here that I could just walk Lauren home and save you a trip down here, plus I'd really enjoy the company because I was planning on walking home anyways. Yes, I live just down the street, yes the white house with the gate around it. No, not at all, it is hardly out of my way and I don't mind. Oh yes, I'd love to join you for dinner, I'll just stop by and ask my parents first, if that's alright with you? Thank you so much. Okay, I'll see you soon." He flipped the phone shut and handed it to me. I continued to stand there dumbfounded, clutching the phone. "What?"

"You handled my mother so well! She usually freaks out over these things and you were so calm…and you're staying for dinner!?"

"Well, your mother wanted to meet your new friend," he said casually.

"And you don't mind?"

He chuckled again, "Mind spending time with you? Never. And this dinner will allow your parents to get to know me, and hopefully trust me—and I'm hoping that will gain me more time with you, with their consent." I stared in disbelief, until he sighed and stared walking towards the sidewalk. "Aren't you coming? I do have to stop by my house to get parental approval, remember? And I'm sure my mother would love to meet you as well." At that, my eyes bulged. "Relax; it's not like meeting the parents," he said with a humorous tone, "besides, even if you were, I'm sure they'd love you."

At that I had to roll my eyes, "Fine. But just so you know, this evening is taking a turn that I never expected, and tomorrow is my turn to interrogate you," I finished up by sticking my tongue out, which only caused him to laugh.

The walk to his house took very little time. We walked in silence, I was worrying about meeting his parents, and maybe he was worried about meeting mine, though he appeared to be relatively at ease with the idea. When we reached a traditional white mailbox, he stopped. "We're here; don't worry, she's going to like you," he reassured me.

"Do you have some kind of psychic skills I should know about?"

"None that you _should_ know about," he teased, but there seemed to be some tightness in his eyes.

He led the way past the iron gates, up a windy driveway. His house was beautiful. It was a tall, three-story house, with four columns in the front. A large porch wrapped around the entire house and there were steps leading up to the porch with white hand rails, with small, detailed patterns carved into 

them. I ran my fingers along the trim; it must have taken weeks! Before I knew it, we were at the top of the steps, standing before the large white front door. He turned to me, and gave me the exuberant slight smile, and twisted the handle.

"Mom?"

"In the study, dear!" I heard Mrs. Saxton shout from somewhere in the gigantic house.

Ben led me up the white staircase towards the second floor. At the top of the stairs were two double French-style doors, which he tapped quietly on, gazing down into my eyes the whole time.

"Come in," I heard the voice of Mrs. Saxton, gentle and patient, much like her son's. Ben pushed the two doors open to reveal Mrs. Saxton's study. Opposite the double doors was a floor-to-ceiling window, with drapes pushed to the far extremes of either edge, allowing the bright sunlight to illuminate Mrs. Saxton, creating the illusion of blond highlights in her light brown hair. The entire left side of the room was occupied with a maculate bookshelf, overfilled with a plethora of books on wide-ranging topics; Psychology, Literature, History, and even some medical books. The wall on the right side was covered with framed pictures of Mrs. Saxton with various, mostly unrecognizable people. "Hello dear, who is your friend?" she asked, glancing up at me with only a hint of surprise in her calm voice.

"Lauren Masen, we stayed after for an FEA meeting, which have I mentioned that I've been thinking of joining? Anyways, Lauren lives just down the street, and I was going to walk her home. When she called her Mom to ask permission, Mrs. Masen invited me over for dinner, and I was wondering if that would be okay?"

Mrs. Saxton paused, trying to absorb the overwhelming amount of information, but when it appeared that she had collect her thoughts, she pressed her lips into a smile and simply said, "Of course, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Lauren, and I hope that sometime—perhaps next week—we can have you and your parents over for dinner. If you two are going to become friends and start spending time together, I figure it best to know just who my son will be with, and your parents probably feel the same. Well, I'll let you two go ahead; Mrs. Masen is probably expecting you. And Benjamin, dear," Ben paused, as we were already turned towards the door on our way out, "Be home before nine, please."

"Yes, Mother," he said with a smile, and we continued walking out, with Ben pausing to close the French doors once we were out of her office. We quietly walked down the stairs and out the door, and it wasn't until we were outside his gate and back on the sidewalk before he spoke. "I would have given you a tour, but I thought I'd save that for next week." He paused to see my reaction, which was only a nod of the head. "So you _are_ planning on coming next week?"

"Sure, unless you _don't _want me to come?" Now I turned my face to meet his eyes.

He chuckled, "I want you to come, I just wasn't sure, I mean things are just so fast…" he trailed off.

I sighed and nodded my head in agreement. "I know, I mean I just met you this morning…and you're going to meet my parents tonight, and I have plans to meet yours next week…it's just bizarrely fast for someone I don't even really know." And I turned my head to see the disappointed look on his 

face, "—But I suppose your mother has a point…I mean if we're going to try and be friends…or whatever this weird thing going on between us is…I guess friendship could label it…but if we're going to be spending time together, then I guess it would be best to go ahead and clue our parents in…I mean mine would flip out if I were to spend time with someone they didn't know…and I suppose the same for yours…"

"So you're fine with the whole 'meet the parents' thing?"

"Well, I'm not too happy about it, but I do see why it's logical and necessary."

He smiled, "So you _are_ planning on spending time with me, then?"

"Oh sorry, I just thought…I mean I understand, I tend to jump to rash conclusions at times…I mean, well I'm not entirely sure what is going on with us…but I never do this type of thing…so um…what exactly _is_ going on?" He hesitated, "Sorry, it's too soon to be defining our relationship, isn't it? I'm sorry I just like to always be clear."

"No, you're absolutely right—I just hadn't expected this to come so soon." I sighed in confusion. "Okay, well, let's go meet your mother because I have a feeling she's already worried enough about you…and I'll explain things afterwards, before dinner, when we're alone. Does that sound okay?" I nodded and we continued to walk towards my house.

Once we arrived at the door, I gave him a nervous smile and turned to open the handle. Once we were in the foyer, I called to my mother, "Mom? Um, we're here."

Unbelievably quick for my mother, she appeared at the top of the steps, "Hello, Benjamin, it's a pleasure to meet you. How are you?" she said with a smile.

"I'm very well, and you?" Ben replied politely, offering to shake her hand, which she accepted.

"Surprised, I won't lie…so when did you two meet?"

Though her face turned towards me, I paused, unsure as to how to answer, and Ben intervened, "Actually, we just met today…" and I could see my mother's face fall in disappointment, but before she could comment on the fast pace, Ben continued, "But I was so intrigued and fascinated by Lauren, that I do hope to spend more time with her, and I want to go about that the proper way."

"Oh, well yes, I do suppose that this is proper…I just don't want you two to rush into anything rash…"

"Oh, Mrs. Masen, I do hope to make my intentions clear, I hope to be Lauren's _friend_, and it is far too soon to desire more, you are entirely right." Ha-ha, agreement would get him everywhere with my parents.

"Oh, well, that is…very good then, I suppose. So you are staying for dinner?"

"Yes, ma'am, I stopped and asked my mother's permission and she approved and asked me to extend an invitation for dinner at our house for next week; I very much hope that you and Mr. Masen will accept."

"Of course we would love to meet your parents."

"Er, mom, I was just wondering if, since Ben is coming for dinner, if he could just stay here a few hours until then and we could work on homework together?"

"Of course, I'll call you when dinner is ready. Good luck studying." At that I rose and headed for the stairs, "You're going to study outside?" She asked in utter confusion.

"Well, there really isn't too much space in my room unless we spread out on my bed or the floor…and since you're going to be cooking, I wouldn't want to get in the way…and it's just so nice outside today. Don't worry; we'll stay in the gardens." I sealed it with a smile, and at that she could only nod in approval.

Once outside, I immediately turned toward Ben with wide, curious eyes. "Yes, I did promise an explanation, didn't I?" I nodded, "Hmm, I hadn't quite figured out how to say this…"

"Try, please." I urged.

He sighed, "I really hope you won't think me insane, but here it goes. I just recently moved here from Arizona, but even before I moved, I had been having dreams—dreams of this girl, this beautiful, smart, determined girl…but not in like the 'she's so hot' way, more like I actually envisioned us growing old together…having a life…I suppose you could say that I had dreamed of my soul mate…and then I move here…and imagine my surprise when I see this girl in the hallway. And I suppose I've been behaving so bizarre because I've seen it all, us and our future…and I'm not entirely sure how to get it, and I want it bad…and if you're anything like the girl in my dreams mentally, not just physically, then you are it. And I'm so desperate and impatient to find out if you are _her_ that I suppose I've been rushing things…but I just can't help it…I've seen this amazing future and I can't wait to have it…and I hope I haven't scared you with my hastiness." My eyes were huge and I was absolutely speechless; how was I supposed to respond to such a proclamation? "Oh dear, and now I've completely scared you, haven't I?"

"No, not entirely…it's just…weird, no offense…I mean you're basically telling me that I'm the girl of your dreams, and that's just _so_ cheesy…but I mean, if you're serious, then this is seriously weird…but…I don't want to stop it…I don't' want to take it slow…because, for some odd reason, I feel drawn to you...and not just like physically but I feel drawn to your conversation and company…and it's just strange because we did just meet and all…so what do we do now?"

"I suggest that we continue my original plan and just get to know each other first…I mean this could all just be a coincidence…but if it's not…"

"Okay, so you know me…but what about you?"

He chuckled, "What's there to know? My name is Ben Saxton. My mother is a psychiatrist and my father is a lawyer. I have one brother, Charles, and one sister, Catherine, both of whom you have already met. Though Melissa and Lawrence are practically siblings; I'm so close to them…and yes, I do feel a bit awkward that my best friend is dating my sister, but as long as they're both happy, I suppose. And you're probably wondering about the strange things they said today at lunch—it's just that they've 

heard about my dreams so much that they're sick of it, and they're tired of seeing me so…alone, I suppose."

I nodded, "College, pets, and guilty pleasures?"

"Guilty pleasures? Er, um—"

"No, I mean like how I'm a movie-a-holic…stuff like that."

He chuckled. "College…well I don't really know what I want to be yet, either, but I'm thinking of maybe a surgeon or Literature professor. I have no pets, and I'm a book junkie. Satisfied?"

I smiled, "Currently."

We were quite for a moment. "What are you thinking?"

"Just that this whole getting to know each other thing isn't something that can be rushed…it's just something you learn from spending time with someone…the little things that you pick up on without asking…just stuff that you notice, you know?"

He sighed, "Yes, and I'm excited about that because it will be a rather enjoyable experience, but I'm also impatient because I want to already be there."

I smiled, "Patience is a virtue."

"I never said I was virtuous."

"Naw, but it's just something that I picked up on," I replied, grinning.

He chuckled and then stuck out a hand, "Friends?"

I shook his hand, "Friends." Just then I heard the loud rumble of my dad's motorcycle from around the corner, and Ben raised his eyebrows in confusion. "My dad—he's a biker."

He laughed, "I never would have guessed, so I take it that you ride as well?"

"Sometimes, but I want my own…I'm thinking something sporty…lime green or silver…"

"I know who I'll be getting my rides from," he teased.

I rolled my eyes and we walked towards my dad, ready to break the news to him.


End file.
